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David de Gea Howler adds to top-four fears

West Ham earned a crucial three points in their bid for Premier League survival, but Manchester United’s Champions League prospects were jeopardized.

After an all-around awful performance, summed up by De Gea’s poor blunder in the 27th minute, enabling Said Benrahma’s strike to creep in, United are only one point clear of archrivals, Liverpool, in the top-four battle following their narrow win over Brentford.

West Ham, however, moved up to 15th with a well-deserved 1-0 victory, even though the game’s lone goal was quite fortuitous. David Moyes’ players, led by Declan Rice in midfield, are on the verge of earning a spot in the Premier League for next season ahead of their Europa Conference League semi-final encounter with Dutch club AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.

Here are six talking points from the London Stadium.

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1. Ten Hag sees the warning signs

This season, Manchester United fans have had to brace themselves for at least one misplaced De Gea kick that sparks a deadly opposing attack. It only took five minutes this time, with the Spaniard dallying with the ball at his feet before gifting Declan Rice a pass 30 yards from goal, just as he did to Michail Antonio at the opening of the second half.

His early inaccuracy provided the perfect opportunity for the West Ham captain to press forward in an open opening to the contest that also saw United miss a succession of early chances through Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Antony, and Christian Eriksen. Fortunately for De Gea, Wout Weghorst was there to run him down and execute a fantastic sliding tackle in the box to block Rice’s cross.

Nonetheless, Erik ten Hag was rightfully enraged and scolded his goalie from the sidelines following yet another failure in his shaky distribution. Although De Gea is still in line for a new deal on less favorable terms, rumors of a new goalkeeper joining the club this summer aren’t going away, and it’s simple to see why. Ten Hag is well aware that the 32-year-old is a liability.

2. De Gea’s  Shenanigans

If he’s not great with the ball, at least he can keep it out of his net, right? That has long been De Gea’s defense, which has led the Premier League Golden Glove race for the most individual clean sheets.

But there’s another, less prestigious chart on which he now sits atop, courtesy to a blunder that allowed West Ham to score in the 27th minute. After breaking away through the middle of the pitch and being given space to fire by three United defenders, the Algerian winger delivered a weak effort that appeared to be a straightforward save for De Gea.

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. As the London Stadium stood in awe, the ball trickled toward the goal and somehow went past his right wrist, slithering into the back of the net.

With his head on the turf and Ten Hag angrier, De Gea had made his fourth error leading directly to a goal this season, more than any other top-flight player. Perhaps the United board will not ratify the new, reduced-terms contract after all, especially after some more powderpuff goalkeeping in the second half, most notably when Antonio got the better of him at a corner but ref Bankes blew for a foul.

3. Lindelof’s lucky escape

If the unhappy United fans, who had endured a grueling few weeks of travel, thought things couldn’t get any worse to complete a slow first-half performance from their club, Victor Lindelof almost added to their anguish. In an attempt to block Benrahma’s cross in the penalty area, the Swede stretched his arm out awkwardly, and the ball struck his hand in line with his rib cage.

The precise location of the contact was clearly sufficient for VAR. Stuart Attwell advised Peter Bankes not to request an on-field review, but pundits and fans alike were perplexed after viewing their own videos at half-time, with Gary Lineker tweeting: “Clearly a handball by Lindelof.” It’s remarkable that the VAR did not intervene.”

Ten Hag decided to give Weghorst another shot after more than a month without a start in the belief that he’d come back stronger. After 56 fairly uninspiring minutes, Ten Hag had had enough, hooking the Netherlands international – now playing as No.10 – in what is almost certainly an indication that he will not be remaining with United after his loan spell.

Anthony Martial came on in his place, and while he might learn from Weghorst in terms of work rate, it’s evident that the French striker is the better long-term choice. With the addition of Martial, the formation changed, allowing Rashford to move to the left and Fernandes to go inside, resulting in a far more natural set-up for the trio.

5. Sigh of Relief to Moyes

With a European semi-final on the horizon, it’s difficult to believe West Ham has had such a dismal season. That’s because, following two top-seven finishes in a row, Hammers fans have had to endure a relegation struggle, with Moyes trying to get a tune out of his players on a consistent basis.

West Ham, on the other hand, is playing their best football of the season – not exactly a big feat – and halted a run of three consecutive defeats with his impressive win, lifting them to 15th in the table and seven points clear of the relegation zone. Dogged defence combined with sharp counterattacks should have resulted in more goals, but Benrahma got the honors with the lone goal. Next up in the Europa Conference League is AZ Alkmaar, followed by a chance to hit the magical 40-point mark against Brentford the following Sunday.